Shloka 18
द्रोणं विव्याध सप्तत्या स्वर्णपुड्खै: शिलाशितै: । सारथिं चास्य बाणेन भृशं मर्मस्वताडयत्,उन्होंने सानपर चढ़ाकर तेज किये हुए सुवर्ण-पंखयुक्त सत्तर बाणोंसे द्रोणाचार्यको बींध डाला और एक बाणद्धारा उनके सारथिके मर्मस्थानोंमें गहरी चोट पहुँचायी
sañjaya uvāca | droṇaṃ vivyādha saptatyā svarṇapuḍkhaiḥ śilāśitaiḥ | sārathiṃ cāsya bāṇena bhṛśaṃ marmasvatāḍayat |
Sañjaya said: He pierced Droṇācārya with seventy arrows whose golden fletchings were honed sharp upon stone. With another shaft he struck Droṇa’s charioteer hard in the vital spots—an image of the war’s ruthless precision, where even attendants become targets and skill is used for lethal ends rather than restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how mastery and determination in war can become morally stark: technical excellence (stone-honed, golden-fletched arrows; targeting marmas) is ethically neutral and gains its moral color from intent and context. It also underscores the tragic widening of violence, where even non-heroic attendants like charioteers are drawn into lethal harm.
In Sañjaya’s battlefield report, an unnamed warrior (contextually, a combatant opposing Droṇa) shoots Droṇācārya with seventy sharpened, golden-fletched arrows and then strikes Droṇa’s charioteer with another arrow, hitting vital points and causing severe injury.